Comments for Turtle Reader » Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas http://www.turtlereader.com Slow and steady, page by page... Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:23:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 Comment on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas - Day 146 of 165 by ScottS-M http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-146-of-165/#comment-450 ScottS-M Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:28:56 +0000 http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-146-of-165/#comment-450 <blockquote>This toxic vegetation has increased beneath the seas of the Torrid Zone, so the disease spreads unchecked from the mouth of the Rio de la Plata to Florida!</blockquote> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_fever" rel="nofollow">Yellow Fever</a> wasn't discovered to be spread by mosquitoes until 1881.

This toxic vegetation has increased beneath the seas of the Torrid Zone, so the disease spreads unchecked from the mouth of the Rio de la Plata to Florida!

Yellow Fever wasn’t discovered to be spread by mosquitoes until 1881.

]]> Comment on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas - Day 131 of 165 by TurtleReader http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-131-of-165/#comment-444 TurtleReader Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:26:13 +0000 http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-131-of-165/#comment-444 <blockquote>Among other zoophytes present in these shallows, there were a few coral tree forms that, according to Sir James Clark Ross, live in these Antarctic seas at depths as great as 1,000 meters.</blockquote> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_James_Clark_Ross" rel="nofollow">James Clark Ross</a> was a British naval officer and explorer of the Arctic and Antarctic.

Among other zoophytes present in these shallows, there were a few coral tree forms that, according to Sir James Clark Ross, live in these Antarctic seas at depths as great as 1,000 meters.

James Clark Ross was a British naval officer and explorer of the Arctic and Antarctic.

]]> Comment on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas - Day 126 of 165 by ScottS-M http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-126-of-165/#comment-441 ScottS-M Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:46:57 +0000 http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-126-of-165/#comment-441 <blockquote>In fact, according to the astronomer Hansteen, this magnetic pole is located fairly close to latitude 70° and longitude 130°, or abiding by the observations of Louis–Isidore Duperrey, in longitude 135° and latitude 70° 30′.</blockquote> Those estimates for the magnetic south pole sounded way off to me but according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Magnetic_Pole" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a>: <blockquote>The South Magnetic Pole is constantly shifting due to changes in the Earth's magnetic field. As of 2005 it was calculated to lie at -64.53, 137.86, just off the coast of Wilkes Land, Antarctica. That point lies outside the Antarctic Circle. It is moving north west by about 10 to 15 kilometers per year (see also Polar drift).</blockquote> So they really had it pretty pegged down back then.

In fact, according to the astronomer Hansteen, this magnetic pole is located fairly close to latitude 70° and longitude 130°, or abiding by the observations of Louis–Isidore Duperrey, in longitude 135° and latitude 70° 30′.

Those estimates for the magnetic south pole sounded way off to me but according to Wikipedia:

The South Magnetic Pole is constantly shifting due to changes in the Earth’s magnetic field. As of 2005 it was calculated to lie at -64.53, 137.86, just off the coast of Wilkes Land, Antarctica. That point lies outside the Antarctic Circle. It is moving north west by about 10 to 15 kilometers per year (see also Polar drift).

So they really had it pretty pegged down back then.

]]> Comment on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas - Day 96 of 165 by ScottS-M http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-96-of-165/#comment-434 ScottS-M Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:02:56 +0000 http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-96-of-165/#comment-434 I have to say I wasn't expecting a fight with a manatee. I have to say I wasn’t expecting a fight with a manatee.

]]> Comment on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas - Day 93 of 165 by TurtleReader http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-93-of-165/#comment-432 TurtleReader Mon, 26 Nov 2007 01:47:27 +0000 http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-93-of-165/#comment-432 <dl><dt><i lang="la">Aures habent et non audient</i></dt><dd>They have ears, but they hear not</dd></dl>
Aures habent et non audient
They have ears, but they hear not
]]> Comment on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas - Day 87 of 165 by ScottS-M http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-87-of-165/#comment-431 ScottS-M Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:08:02 +0000 http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-87-of-165/#comment-431 <blockquote>The shark returned, rolled over on its back, and was getting ready to cut the Indian in half...</blockquote> It seems people used to think sharks had to roll on their backs to bite. I guess it sort of make sense since their mouths are on the bottom but it seems like a few observations should have set them straight. Funny.

The shark returned, rolled over on its back, and was getting ready to cut the Indian in half…

It seems people used to think sharks had to roll on their backs to bite. I guess it sort of make sense since their mouths are on the bottom but it seems like a few observations should have set them straight. Funny.

]]> Comment on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas - Day 86 of 165 by TurtleReader http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-86-of-165/#comment-430 TurtleReader Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:03:25 +0000 http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-86-of-165/#comment-430 <blockquote>you’d need the stomach of King Gargantua to eat a couple dozen</blockquote> <dl><dt><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargantua" rel="nofollow">Gargantua</a></dt><dd><q>Gargantua and Pantagruel is a connected series of five novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It is the story of two giants, a father (Gargantua) and his son (Pantagruel) and their adventures, written in an amusing, extravagant, satirical vein.</q></dd></dl>

you’d need the stomach of King Gargantua to eat a couple dozen

Gargantua
Gargantua and Pantagruel is a connected series of five novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It is the story of two giants, a father (Gargantua) and his son (Pantagruel) and their adventures, written in an amusing, extravagant, satirical vein.
]]> Comment on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas - Day 80 of 165 by ScottS-M http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-80-of-165/#comment-428 ScottS-M Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:28:45 +0000 http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-80-of-165/#comment-428 I'd never really heard of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argonaut_%28animal%29" rel="nofollow">argonauts</a>. Pretty interesting animals although I don't think they actually use their tentacles as sails. I’d never really heard of argonauts. Pretty interesting animals although I don’t think they actually use their tentacles as sails.

]]> Comment on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas - Day 45 of 165 by TurtleReader http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-45-of-165/#comment-406 TurtleReader Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:27:09 +0000 http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-45-of-165/#comment-406 <dl><dt><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Daniel_Ruhmkorff" rel="nofollow">Ruhmkorff</a> device</dt><dd>Heinrich Daniel Ruhmkorff was a German instrument maker who developed and commercialized the induction coil (often referred to as the Ruhmkorff coil.)</dd></dl> <blockquote>An induction coil gathers the electricity generated and directs it to a specially designed lantern. In this lantern one finds a glass spiral that contains only a residue of carbon dioxide gas. When the device is operating, this gas becomes luminous and gives off a continuous whitish light.</blockquote> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp#History" rel="nofollow">Fluorescent lighting</a> would have been pretty cutting edge in 1869 with the <q>earliest ancestor of the fluorescent lamp being the device by Heinrich Geissler who, in 1856, obtained a bluish glow from a gas which was sealed in a tube and excited with an induction coil</q>. <dl><dt><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyden_jar" rel="nofollow">Leyden jar</a></dt><dd>A device for storing electric charge (the first capacitor) invented in 1745 by Pieter van Musschenbroek.</dd></dl>
Ruhmkorff device
Heinrich Daniel Ruhmkorff was a German instrument maker who developed and commercialized the induction coil (often referred to as the Ruhmkorff coil.)

An induction coil gathers the electricity generated and directs it to a specially designed lantern. In this lantern one finds a glass spiral that contains only a residue of carbon dioxide gas. When the device is operating, this gas becomes luminous and gives off a continuous whitish light.

Fluorescent lighting would have been pretty cutting edge in 1869 with the earliest ancestor of the fluorescent lamp being the device by Heinrich Geissler who, in 1856, obtained a bluish glow from a gas which was sealed in a tube and excited with an induction coil.

Leyden jar
A device for storing electric charge (the first capacitor) invented in 1745 by Pieter van Musschenbroek.
]]> Comment on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas - Day 45 of 165 by TurtleReader http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-45-of-165/#comment-405 TurtleReader Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:16:23 +0000 http://www.turtlereader.com/authors/jules-verne/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas/twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-seas-day-45-of-165/#comment-405 <dl><dt><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_diving_technology#The_first_diving_regulator" rel="nofollow">Rouquayrol–Denayrouze device</a></dt><dd>Benoit Rouquayrol and Auguste Denayrouze designed a diving set with a backpack spherical air tank that supplied air through the first known demand regulator. The diverl walked on the seabed and did not swim. This set was called an aérophore (Greek for "air-carrier"). But air pressure tanks made with the technology of the time could only hold 30 atmospheres, and the diver had to be surface supplied; the tank was for bailout.</dd></dl> <blockquote>“It consists of a tank built from heavy sheet iron in which I store air under a pressure of fifty atmospheres... ...the tank on my diving equipment can supply breathable air for nine or ten hours.”</blockquote> 50 atmospheres is 740 psi for any divers out there. Modern scuba tanks go to about 3000 psi and can only stay down for a couple hours. I guess Nero would need some huge tanks and shallow water to be able to stay that long underwater.
Rouquayrol–Denayrouze device
Benoit Rouquayrol and Auguste Denayrouze designed a diving set with a backpack spherical air tank that supplied air through the first known demand regulator. The diverl walked on the seabed and did not swim. This set was called an aérophore (Greek for “air-carrier”). But air pressure tanks made with the technology of the time could only hold 30 atmospheres, and the diver had to be surface supplied; the tank was for bailout.

“It consists of a tank built from heavy sheet iron in which I store air under a pressure of fifty atmospheres… …the tank on my diving equipment can supply breathable air for nine or ten hours.”

50 atmospheres is 740 psi for any divers out there. Modern scuba tanks go to about 3000 psi and can only stay down for a couple hours. I guess Nero would need some huge tanks and shallow water to be able to stay that long underwater.

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